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National Climate Assessment

A federally mandated scientific assessment under the Global Change Research Act of 1990 that evaluates current and projected climate change related effects across the U.S. every four years.

NCA4 Webinar Series

This six-part series, featuring presentations from chapter authors, elaborates on key messages outline in the Southeast, Caribbean, & Tribes and Indigenous Peoples chapters of the NCA4.

What is the NCA4?

The NCA4 Volume II: Impact, Risks, and Adaptation in the United States, released in November 2018, builds on the NCA4 Volume I: Climate Science Special Report (CSSR), published in 2017. The CSSR provides in-depth analysis on the foundational physical science of climate change upon which much of the assessment of impacts in Volume II is based.


This page provides quick access to relevant NCA4 links, including the full reports, as well as executive summaries, summary findings, reports in brief, SE CASC NCA4 blog posts, and other related publications. Hard copies of these materials can be ordered here from the U.S. Global Change Research Program website. 

NCA4, Volume I: Climate Science Special Report

The first of two volumes of the Fourth National Climate Assessment, this report is an authoritative assessment of the science of climate change, with a focus on the United States.

Explore on the web.

NCA4, Volume II: Impacts, Risks, and Adaptation in the United States

The second of two volumes of the Fourth National Climate Assessment, this report is a comprehensive evaluation of climate change and its impacts in the United States.

Explore on the web.

Quick Links

Southeast

U.S. Caribbean

Tribes and Indigenous Peoples

NCA4 Related Resources

Webinar: Fourth National Climate Assessment – Tribes and Indigenous Peoples – ITEP

This recorded ITEP webinar explores how NCA4 authors integrated indigenous issues and actions throughout the report by supporting opportunities for input from tribes.

View the webinar

State Climate Summaries – NOAA

These state climate summaries were developed in response to a demand for state-level information after the release of the Third U.S. National Climate Assessment in 2014 and were updated in 2019.

Explore Climate Summaries

What Is The National Climate Assessment And Where Did It Come From? – Forbes

Dr. J. Marshall Shepherd, former President of the American Meteorological Society (AMS), provides an overview of the release of the National Climate Assessment.

Read the article

Impacts to the Southeast to Consider from the Fourth National Climate Assessment – NCSU

SE CASC University Assistant Director, Aranzazu Lascurain, highlights contributions by NC State University faculty and SE CASC staff to Volume II of the Fourth National Climate Assessment and the impacts to North Carolina and the southeastern US.

Read the article.
The Trinity River flows in the foreground and the Dallas, Texas skyline can be seen on the horizon.

Five myths about climate change – The Washington Post

Katharine Hayhoe, professor of atmospheric science and director of the Texas Tech Climate Science Center, was published in the Washington Post following the release of the NCA4. She explains the five myths that she hears most frequently regarding climate change science.

View the article.